Hello everyone.. New Year is here and so is the January FFFC contest with a brand new and exciting theme!! This month’s theme is – “AFRESH START” and this month’s sponsor is General Finishes.

This month’s contest is hosted by Stacy from Anastasia Vintage and Evey from Evey’s Creations, don’t forget to visit the hosts and check out their fabulous creations!

When I heard that General Finishes are offering a brand new product – chalk style paint I was so excited I could not wait to try it out as I absolutely love General Finishes products. If you remember they were also sponsors of the September FFFC contest. Unfortunately, postal problems meant I didn’t receive the paint so I had to work with what I had and mix up some home-made chalk paint instead. Such a shame but sometimes these things happen…

I originally planned to use General Finishes paint in Moroccan Yellow and Java Gel Stain as I had in mind subtle yellow would work lovely with the dark finish.

So I stuck to the plan and mixed up some home-made chalk paint in similar shade of yellow .

The fun part about re-doing furniture is that most of the time you are giving a piece of furniture a new start, a new chance.. It is so easy to throw things away and buy new things but it is so much more fulfilling to create something unique out of something some people may consider junk…

I found this old TV cabinet and it was definitely in need of a makeover.. I don’t think anyone really uses these anymore for hiding a TV as let’s be honest TVs nowadays are so much bigger and most people like to show them off. I still don’t think people should get rid of a good piece of furniture (well maybe if they give them to me its ok!! 😀 ) as it can be made into a lovely cabinet just by simply covering the back and adding a shelf… I could not believe that someone had thrown it out as in my eyes it was absolutely stunning.. Plenty of life left in it .. it just needed a bit of a lift.. a fresh start really..

Originally, I thought I would leave the front of the cabinet untouched, simply sand and add some stain on the doors, but somehow nothing ever works out as planned.. Because the cabinet was left outside in the wet and cold weather, the veneer was starting to chip and lift off in places so I had no choice but to remove it.

I used a heat gun to help me with this task, it was not a walk in the park but so much easier than trying to remove it off without one. I removed the veneer from the top of the cabinet too and I was so pleased as the wood underneath was gorgeous!!

I really wanted this piece to make a statement so decided to add something on it, I played around with the idea of using a moulding or applique but then decided to try something new – adding a raised stencil design on the doors. It was either very clever or very stupid to attempt something for the first time for a competition piece, but if you don’t try you don’t learn. Full post on how to do a raised stencil can be seen here.

I LOVED how it turned out and it definitely made a statement and complimented the look! Exactly what I was after! PHEW it worked!!!

I then painted the cabinet using my home-made chalk paint in this musty yellow colour. It needed a couple of coats and I sanded in between as it was grainier than the shop bought paints, but it still did a great job I thought especially as my last minute substitute!

As I did not want to paint the whole cabinet yellow, I stained the framework using General Finishes Java Stain. I used a very fine brush and some frog tape to get nice and clean lines.. I love this stain as it gives such a great finish and I just love the smell of it .. 🙂

I used some clear wax to seal the chalk paint in and then some dark wax over the stencil to create a deeper look and to make it stand out a bit more.

To make sure everything was nicely sealed and to make sure the furniture was durable I used General Finishes High Performance Polyurethane Water Based Topcoat in satin to finish it all off.

So here goes my from TV cabinet to statement piece makeover ! What do you think?

The Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest is open only to the entrants who have signed up through the group Facebook page. If you are an active, furniture flippin’ blogger, and you’d like to participate in future contests please contact Stacy or Evey at info@fabfurnitureflippincontest.com to find out how!

You did such a great job with it Evija! It is so elegant now, seems to come from a shop!
I’ve never tried the heat gun to remove veneer but I think I must try, it is really a pain.
Good luck on the contest!

I have a piece of furniture my grandmother gave me when I got my first apt. It could use some love like this piece. I have a friend who loves doing these types of projects who might be interested in the contest. I will share this post with her.